There are many uses for illumination systems. For example, it is necessary to use a source of illumination to provide automated product inspection. In such inspection systems, the inspection camera and software may be the same while the customer may want to change the product to be inspected. In one application, the product may be smaller than in another and, accordingly, a smaller illumination source may work well for the smaller product while a larger illumination source will be required for the larger product.
In the past, a new illumination system had to be designed for each product to be inspected, making it difficult for a customer to scale up or down an illumination system to work with an existing inspection system. Accordingly, there is a need for an illumination system which can be scaled up or down and which provides uniform and consistent illumination from edge to edge of the illumination system.